Volunteer Energy Cooperative crews have been working non-stop since Winter Storm Fern moved into the service area. Thousands in the southern portion of Cumberland County lost electricity Saturday night and early Sunday morning as ice-laden trees fell on power lines. The story was repeated in neighboring counties and at one point, both Rhea and Roane counties each had 1,000 customers without electricity. Over 900 were out in Bledsoe with hundreds more in the dark across the region. Crews made repairs throughout the day and by 10:30 Sunday night, just 113 outages were reported in the VEC service area. Bledsoe County’s outages were down to 96, Cumberland County reported 14, and Rhea County had only 3 outages. VEC thanks everyone for their patience as crews continue to work tirelessly to restore all customers.
Sunday night, Volunteer Energy Cooperative said if you are still without power, they encourage you to take precautions and make alternative plans to stay warm as temperatures are expected to drop to dangerously low levels tonight (Jan. 25, 2026) and will remain very cold through Tuesday morning.
